Dri
@dreamnoid.com
Game Dev, making free action-adventure games in my spare time under the 'Dreamnoid' label: https://dreamnoid.itch.io/ (+ AAA dayjob)
Pinned
Dri
@dreamnoid.com
· Nov 17
My name’s Dri, I’m a french programmer working for a AAA game studio. I specialize in engine tools. But in my spare time I don a few more hats to create small indie games on my own, with a custom engine and tools. Here’s a thread of my projects to date:
Reposted by Dri
This is simply not technically possible. You cannot generate enough writing in-house to train an LLM. You cannot generate enough art in-house to train a GAN. People who think they have a model "trained on our own material" are using a base model of mass-scraped data, unknowingly or disingenuously.
Larian CEO says Divinity could have gen AI assets in it but only if the tools are trained on the studio's own data.
"If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own."
https://kotaku.com/divinity-gen-ai-larian-bg3-reddit-ama-2000658429
"If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own."
https://kotaku.com/divinity-gen-ai-larian-bg3-reddit-ama-2000658429
January 9, 2026 at 3:39 PM
This is simply not technically possible. You cannot generate enough writing in-house to train an LLM. You cannot generate enough art in-house to train a GAN. People who think they have a model "trained on our own material" are using a base model of mass-scraped data, unknowingly or disingenuously.
Reposted by Dri
It's kinda jarring playing RPGs now where everyone fears the evil demon lord and their monsters.
Realistically, 49-51% of the population would be complicit with the evil demon lord and their monsters.
Realistically, 49-51% of the population would be complicit with the evil demon lord and their monsters.
January 9, 2026 at 9:31 AM
It's kinda jarring playing RPGs now where everyone fears the evil demon lord and their monsters.
Realistically, 49-51% of the population would be complicit with the evil demon lord and their monsters.
Realistically, 49-51% of the population would be complicit with the evil demon lord and their monsters.
I released three games in 2025. As I'm moving from itch to Steam in 2026, I don't intend to increase scope that much. 3 months and change per project is basically perfect for me.
Stop making big (+1 years) games, please!!
Take two shots in that time instead of just one.
Yes, there's A LOT of luck. But also, hedge your bets. It's very hard out there. Don't add long and expensive to the risk factors at first.
Take two shots in that time instead of just one.
Yes, there's A LOT of luck. But also, hedge your bets. It's very hard out there. Don't add long and expensive to the risk factors at first.
Peak co-creator: Anyone can make the next big hit, but there are few opportunities for developers
www.gamesindustry.biz/peak-co-crea...
www.gamesindustry.biz/peak-co-crea...
January 9, 2026 at 8:25 PM
I released three games in 2025. As I'm moving from itch to Steam in 2026, I don't intend to increase scope that much. 3 months and change per project is basically perfect for me.
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“[…] previously he was the creative director of blablabla, so he knows a thing or two about running huge productions with hundreds of people – and where things need to be improved.”
That’s a very wild assumption you’re making here buddy.
That’s a very wild assumption you’re making here buddy.
January 8, 2026 at 10:27 AM
“[…] previously he was the creative director of blablabla, so he knows a thing or two about running huge productions with hundreds of people – and where things need to be improved.”
That’s a very wild assumption you’re making here buddy.
That’s a very wild assumption you’re making here buddy.
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I feel like a lot of games advertise themselves as being inspired by Chrono Trigger but then they aren't actually very much like Chrono Trigger at all. I think it's because Chrono Trigger was about stuff and these games are about how fun it was to play Chrono Trigger.
January 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM
I feel like a lot of games advertise themselves as being inspired by Chrono Trigger but then they aren't actually very much like Chrono Trigger at all. I think it's because Chrono Trigger was about stuff and these games are about how fun it was to play Chrono Trigger.
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In times like these I wish the United Nations was real
January 3, 2026 at 12:30 PM
In times like these I wish the United Nations was real
Reposted by Dri
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
Satya Nadella has been a disaster for Microsoft. A lot of my professional career has centered around Microsoft technologies and now even using Windows is not a sure thing anymore. Way to sabotage your own influence
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...
Microsoft's Satya Nadella wants you to stop saying AI "slop" in 2026
In closing comments of 2025, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared an update on the company's mindset for 2026 — shocker, it's all about AI.
www.windowscentral.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Satya Nadella has been a disaster for Microsoft. A lot of my professional career has centered around Microsoft technologies and now even using Windows is not a sure thing anymore. Way to sabotage your own influence
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...
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I actually think it's time to bring back the approach of curated lists and webrings from the early web again. Huge opportunity space for hand curation of information
In an age where AI slop websites have made entire categories of information difficult to find, what we need is Yahoo (or Dmoz): a human-curated list of reliable websites, organized by topic.
January 2, 2026 at 10:29 PM
I actually think it's time to bring back the approach of curated lists and webrings from the early web again. Huge opportunity space for hand curation of information
Taking some time today to write a quick retrospective of 2025 and plan for 2026. Not something I intend to publish, but a good exercise nonetheless
December 31, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Taking some time today to write a quick retrospective of 2025 and plan for 2026. Not something I intend to publish, but a good exercise nonetheless
Reposted by Dri
I was about to congratulate LLVM for providing pre-compiled Linux binaries for Clang but they're actually missing half the required dependencies so it's basically useless... That stuff is why I don't see myself ever switching to Linux...
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I was about to congratulate LLVM for providing pre-compiled Linux binaries for Clang but they're actually missing half the required dependencies so it's basically useless... That stuff is why I don't see myself ever switching to Linux...
As someone who does a lot of procedural generation, it really saddens me how it's sometimes being conflated with GenAI now. How many babies are going to get thrown with the bathwater because of OpenAI and their bullshit?
The confusion and conflation of ‘generative ai that is built on stolen artwork’ and ‘machine learning, character behaviour modelling and proc gen’ is intentional on the part of the grifters peddling the former. They benefit from murkiness of classification, because the latter predates their bollocks
December 24, 2025 at 10:49 AM
As someone who does a lot of procedural generation, it really saddens me how it's sometimes being conflated with GenAI now. How many babies are going to get thrown with the bathwater because of OpenAI and their bullshit?
My 3D games run slightly better on the SteamDeck than on my 11yo computer! SteamDeck is high end as far as I'm concerned ;)
So are all my cool indie dev friends going to be targeting low end devices next year? Perhaps Steam deck as a target?
Seems smart given the cost of living/RAM prices/graphics card prices.
Seems smart given the cost of living/RAM prices/graphics card prices.
December 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
My 3D games run slightly better on the SteamDeck than on my 11yo computer! SteamDeck is high end as far as I'm concerned ;)
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What kills me about "who is the father of indie games?" discourse is that, if you mean only the 2008+ indie boom, the answer is whoever pushed Xbox Live Arcade, or someone like that. Not an indie game creator, a venue creator. Breakout game creators were inevitable thanks to venue availability.
December 22, 2025 at 9:32 AM
What kills me about "who is the father of indie games?" discourse is that, if you mean only the 2008+ indie boom, the answer is whoever pushed Xbox Live Arcade, or someone like that. Not an indie game creator, a venue creator. Breakout game creators were inevitable thanks to venue availability.
The struggle is real. In my codebases I use 'hitbox' for receiving damages and 'hurtbox' for inflicting it, but I know of multiple examples where it's the opposite. Really wish there was a standard...
"hitbox" vs "hurtbox" is so ambiguous in my head, is it established which is which?
hitbox is either the box that can hit others, or it's box that gets hit
hurtbox is either the box that can hurt others, or it's the box where you get hurt
are there better names for these?
hitbox is either the box that can hit others, or it's box that gets hit
hurtbox is either the box that can hurt others, or it's the box where you get hurt
are there better names for these?
December 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
The struggle is real. In my codebases I use 'hitbox' for receiving damages and 'hurtbox' for inflicting it, but I know of multiple examples where it's the opposite. Really wish there was a standard...
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Pretty disappointed in both @humblebundle.com and especially in @girlswhocode.bsky.social. Please teach girls how to code, don't push them into generative AI. That won't build their skills. Prioritize foundational programming skills and awaken their interest. "Tired of long days writing code"???
December 19, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Pretty disappointed in both @humblebundle.com and especially in @girlswhocode.bsky.social. Please teach girls how to code, don't push them into generative AI. That won't build their skills. Prioritize foundational programming skills and awaken their interest. "Tired of long days writing code"???
Reposted by Dri
I made a game! "Zendo - The Hidden Path" is kind of an experiment: you can play it as a regular metroidvania and go for 100% item completion, but I want you to try the opposite. Can you learn the secrets of this world to *skip all abilities* and still finish it?
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
Zendo - The Hidden Path by Dreamnoid
Collect all abilities... or learn secrets to bypass them
dreamnoid.itch.io
December 15, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I made a game! "Zendo - The Hidden Path" is kind of an experiment: you can play it as a regular metroidvania and go for 100% item completion, but I want you to try the opposite. Can you learn the secrets of this world to *skip all abilities* and still finish it?
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
I made a game! "Zendo - The Hidden Path" is kind of an experiment: you can play it as a regular metroidvania and go for 100% item completion, but I want you to try the opposite. Can you learn the secrets of this world to *skip all abilities* and still finish it?
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
Zendo - The Hidden Path by Dreamnoid
Collect all abilities... or learn secrets to bypass them
dreamnoid.itch.io
December 15, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I made a game! "Zendo - The Hidden Path" is kind of an experiment: you can play it as a regular metroidvania and go for 100% item completion, but I want you to try the opposite. Can you learn the secrets of this world to *skip all abilities* and still finish it?
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
It's free: dreamnoid.itch.io/zendo
Reposted by Dri
Assuming there isn’t more to this than we know, it is indeed very embarrassing to see an industry obsessed with being taken seriously as an art form self censor in this way.
You need the grit if you want the pearl, dweebs. No amount of trotting out auteur film directors on stage offsets that need
You need the grit if you want the pearl, dweebs. No amount of trotting out auteur film directors on stage offsets that need
Despite the controversy, Horses is only shocking if you're unfamiliar with the history movies, theater, literature, or basically any art form that does not have stats. aftermath.site/horses-indie-g...
Horses Is Tame
Horses, the indie game that is too scandalous for either Valve or Epic, is only beyond the pale if you're not familiar with any other art form.
aftermath.site
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Assuming there isn’t more to this than we know, it is indeed very embarrassing to see an industry obsessed with being taken seriously as an art form self censor in this way.
You need the grit if you want the pearl, dweebs. No amount of trotting out auteur film directors on stage offsets that need
You need the grit if you want the pearl, dweebs. No amount of trotting out auteur film directors on stage offsets that need
If I see just another coworker unable to explain a line of code in their pull request beyond "an AI told me to do it" I will go on a rampage
December 4, 2025 at 4:39 PM
If I see just another coworker unable to explain a line of code in their pull request beyond "an AI told me to do it" I will go on a rampage
Reposted by Dri
I see a lot of terrible takes even in my feed: that duplicated data wasn't an accident/'there for no reason'. It's there to be quickly accessible by mechanical disks. Removing it means the loading times will increase (not as big a deal on SSDs). Optimization is always a tradeoff: space versus speed.
Helldivers 2 on PC has reduced installation size from 154GB to 23GB thanks to support from Nixxes buff.ly/YvXQnW6
December 3, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I see a lot of terrible takes even in my feed: that duplicated data wasn't an accident/'there for no reason'. It's there to be quickly accessible by mechanical disks. Removing it means the loading times will increase (not as big a deal on SSDs). Optimization is always a tradeoff: space versus speed.
GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR
Hint: it's not The Fireseeker, Steam releases or the RPG 😅
Hint: it's not The Fireseeker, Steam releases or the RPG 😅
I'm starting to think about 2025 and I'm of two minds. On one hand I would like to slow down a bit, finish The Fireseeker and otherwise consolidate what I have with Steam releases and some tech R&D. On the other hand, I *reallly* want to make a new RPG and a 3D action-adventure game... #gamedev
December 2, 2025 at 9:48 PM
GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR
Hint: it's not The Fireseeker, Steam releases or the RPG 😅
Hint: it's not The Fireseeker, Steam releases or the RPG 😅
Reposted by Dri
Folks have made a lot of petty excuses for hating Epic Game Store over the years. I always roll my eyes at gamers arguing that Steam should be the "one store to rule them all".
But this is a legitimate reason to never use Epic Game Store ever again.
But this is a legitimate reason to never use Epic Game Store ever again.
"Why stop at AI use? We could have mandatory disclosures for what shampoo brand the developer uses" — Epic boss Tim Sweeney says Steam should ditch its AI generated content disclosure. https://bit.ly/4a193vt
November 30, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Folks have made a lot of petty excuses for hating Epic Game Store over the years. I always roll my eyes at gamers arguing that Steam should be the "one store to rule them all".
But this is a legitimate reason to never use Epic Game Store ever again.
But this is a legitimate reason to never use Epic Game Store ever again.